


Gemini

by grimorie



Category: Life (TV), Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Developing Relationship, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Siblings, eventual Charlie Crews/Dani Reese
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-27
Packaged: 2018-02-12 22:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2127549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimorie/pseuds/grimorie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dani Reese always had a complicated family life and then she receives word that her estranged sister died in combat.</p><p>And <em>then</em> things get even more complicated after that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Earthquake Weather

**Author's Note:**

> **Spoilers** : During the events of Life 2x12 - _Trapdoor_ and after the events of Person of Interest 2x16 - _Relevance_.  
>  **Disclaimer** : None of the shows and its characters belong to me, I'm only playing in their sandbox. 
> 
> This is unbeta'd, all sins are mine.

1.

If someone asked him how he felt his week would turn out, Charlie would tell them to brace themselves and hold on to something strong. 

It was a feeling that started creeping in when Agent Bodner told Charlie he had Ted arrested and sent to prison. 

The feeling stayed with him as he and Reese found the three dead Russians in the abandoned warehouse, and when his father broke into his house. 

It was a heavy feeling in his bones that only grew at Roman's threat to Rachel, and as Mickey Rayborn continued to dangle his secrets in front of Charlie. 

It was the feeling that the whole world's about to shift and change. 

Mark Rawls called it Earthquake weather. 

Now the heaviness crept over his shoulders as he watched Reese at her desk, putting files aside as soon as she's read through them. In the quiet of their car, Reese revealed Tidwell ordered her to go to ninety meetings within ninety days. 

Ninety in Ninety. 

Charlie wasn't aware his partner stopped going to meetings.

He was too preoccupied with his own life to notice what's going on with his partner. 

Even if Reese was never a big talker after two years in the same car together Charlie thought he knew what mattered to her, at least Charlie used to know what mattered to Reese.The moment Reese turned up on his doorstep reeking of alcohol, he realized how much he wasn't paying attention. 

_"Drinking,"_ Reese told him, when he asked if she were drunk, _"not drunk."_

Charlie knew Reese told Tidwell she fell off the wagon because things were going too well. Too well in their relationship or in her life, Reese didn't specify.

'Too well' didn't explain why Reese would turn up drunk on Charlie's doorstep a day after he shot his own father. 

"Crews." Reese's voice carried across the squad room, shaking Charlie from the past. "You're blocking the way." 

Charlie turned and saw a Uniform with a perp frowning at him. Charlie smiled at the perp before moving back to let them pass. Charlie looked over to Reese but she had put her head down and continued to look through files.

She lifted her head and met Charlie's eyes. He smiled at her but she dropped her gaze back to her desk, as he drew closer the phone on Reese's desk rang. Reese hesitated and glanced in his direction before she snatched the phone and answered it and by the time he reached his desk, Reese was deep in conversation with the person at the other end of the line. 

Her voice was low and she spoke long, flowing words Charlie didn't understand but the cadence of her voice was melodic, like the first time Charlie learned she could speak Farsi.

Suddenly Reese sat back and placed a hand to her mouth. Charlie spent almost every waking moment with Reese, he could catalog every expression on her face but he'd never seen _that_ expression before. 

And it rooted Charlie on the spot, giving up all pretence that he wasn't eavesdropping. 

Charlie waited until she put the phone back to its cradle, waited until Reese moved or spoke but she remained still.

"Reese," he finally said, "what's wrong?" 

This seemed to snap her back into the present, she blinked at him owlishly. "That was my mother."

Charlie was instantly on alert, he knew how tangled her family life was. "Your mother?"

"She told me officers from the Marine Corp visited our house," Reese's voice wavered. 

"Marines?" He asked, puzzled. 

She looked past him with unfocused eyes. Charlie reached for her wrist and this seemed to jolt Reese. She glanced down sharply at his hand on her wrist then she looked back up at him.

"Reese, why would officers of the Marine corp visit your mother?"

"They told my mother," Reese began slowly, "they told my mother my sister is dead." 


	2. Bulletholes

"Did you know Reese had a sister?"

Charlie watched the SWAT team escort Roman to the bus with Bobby watching a few feet away. They caught a break, a much needed one.

After Reese told him about the sister he's never heard of before, she left the station only to return a few hours later, eyes red rimmed and looking even more brittle than when she left.

He offered her a peach she looked at it dubiously and shook her head.

"Let's just get to work," she told him.

They had a score to settle with Roman Nevikov.

The first time Charlie and Reese tangled with Roman, the Russian Mafiya head slipped away with the help of Agent Bodner, claiming Roman was a Federal informant, the second time Roman slipped away they couldn't find anything to stick him with but the third time, closely following their second attempt, he and Reese found the Engineer's Trapdoor and with it, the people Roman kept illegally hidden and underground.

After the arrest Reese barely looked at Roman before telling Charlie she had somewhere else she needed to be.

"Crews," Tidwell repeated, his voice agitated. "Did you know Reese had a sister?"

Charlie gave Tidwell his attention, "No, I didn't. Did you?"

"No," it seemed like Tidwell's agitation had moved on into frustration. Reese had fallen off the wagon, and now the sister they didn't know existed was dead.

It's been a big couple of days for Reese too.

"She's going to her mother's house now," Charlie told Tidwell.

Tidwell looked even more frustrated. "I don't even know where her mother lives! How can I visit when I don't even know where her mother lives?"

Charlie looked around the crime scene, some of the uniforms have left, the few that remained were starting to notice their captain's agitation.

"Reese is a private person, Captain." He said in a calm voice, "She'll tell you on her own time."

"Her sister was in the military, I didn't even know that."

Charlie shifted uncomfortably, this was moving into a far more personal territory and he knew Reese wouldn't appreciate it if she knew. "Reese is a very private person."

Tidwell glanced at him, then around. "Yeah, yeah you're right."

Charlie returned home to check on in his father and regretted it instantly, especially since his father indicated he wanted Charlie to sit down with him and talk.

"I have to go meet my partner," he repeated for the third time.

"You spend all day with your partner, you can't talk with me for five more minutes?"

"No," Charlie answered.

"You owe me for this bullet wound."

Charlie gave his father a disbelieving stare, "You broke into my house!"

"So you just shot me?" He demanded.

"So I shot you," Charlie agreed, non-plussed. "Are you going to be alright here? I'm going to my partner's house."

"Are you driving to her house in that car full of bullet holes?" His father leaned forward in his wheelchair.

"I have to go," Charlie told his father. "There's food in the kitchen."

"There's _fruit_ in the kitchen," his father said. "And only fruit, since when did you start liking fruit? You didn't used to like fruit."

He didn't respond instead he waved his hand and left.

Rachel told him he didn't need to ride around in a car full of bullets, but he did, just for a little while longer.

The last time Charlie visited the Reese home he was lurking with a camera, staking out Jack Reese, Reese's dad. This time he wasn't going to lurk in the shadows, this time he parked his car and made his way to the house and rang the doorbell.

There were surprisingly a lot of cars parked on the sidewalk he looked at them as he waited.

"Yes?" The man on the other side of the door was tall and he looked at Charlie with confusion.

"Is Dani home?" He asked politely. "I'm Charlie Crews."

The man frowned then brightened. "Her partner, of course, I'm her cousin--"

"Crews?"

Charlie looked beyond the man and saw Reese in the hall. Reese looked to her cousin, nodded and said, "I got this."

Her cousin nodded and moved away.

From his vantage point there were at least five other people in the house, this surprised Charlie, he'd always had an impression she also came from a small family like he did. "Lots of people."

"Yeah, cousins, my mom's sisters and brothers." Reese waved behind her then she stepped out and Charlie stepped back as Reese closed the door. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he said, confused. "I was just checking up on you, you left pretty fast."

"Yeah, well," Reese put her hands in her pockets and looked away. "Family stuff."

"Your sister died."

"Yeah."

"Reese..."

"Why are you here, Crews?"

"Your sister died and I wanted to check up on you."

Reese looked up at him sharply, as if she wanted to say something, it was the same expression she had earlier that day when she appeared on his doorstep, saying: _drinking, not drunk_.

Like she wanted to ask the question she was side stepping for two years.

"Will you be having a military funeral?" He asked to break the tension.

"Just a ceremony," she said, "there's no body."

"I'm sorry."

Reese shrugged, looking smaller than she was. "I haven't seen her in years."

"I'm still sorry."

"Were you two close?"

She eyed him then looked away, "We used to be."

They lapsed into silence. Charlie found that if he stayed silent the other person would start talking just to fill in the silence but it was a technique that doesn't work with Reese.

Soon Charlie found himself saying, "Tidwell asked about you."

There was that look on her face again every time he brought up Tidwell, that he knew about her and Tidwell. "I'll call him tomorrow."

"I understand." He hesitated then pressed on. "Does your family know you started drinking again?"

"No." Her voice was sharp and certain.

"Maybe they need to--"

"No, Crews, no. They have enough on their minds."

"And you don't?"

"You're not my sponsor, Crews."

Charlie kept his silence then nodded, "I'm serious, Reese, if you need anything."

"I have your number," she said drily. Reese had his number and his address. Charlie suspected Reese would turn up on his doorstep again, and the next time Charlie knew Reese won't need the alcohol to ask the question she needed to ask.

Right now she had other, important things to think about.

There was nothing more he could do except show that he really was there for her. He nodded and her distracted frown was dismissal enough.

He walked back to his car, in the dark he could barely see the bullet holes.

A car was slowing down and Charlie turned to look.

He saw the gun before he saw anything else, he didn't even have any time to react, he heard gunfire before but this was like hearing a thunderclap going off.

 _Oh,_ he thought, as he went down on the ground, _So that's what it feels like to get shot._

And then everything slowly went white.


	3. Off Books

Dani was about to enter the house when she heard a loud _crack_ reverberate in the night, she dove for cover and her hand fell to her hip to reach for her gun only to belatedly realize that her gun was safely stored inside a cabinet where none of her relatives can reach it.

There were shrill screams of panic from inside the house, Dani saw her cousin Paul hiding behind the door.

"Paul," she called, her cousin looked at her. "Tell everyone to stay down and away from the windows."

His eyes were wide but he nodded and disappeared into the living room. Dani peeked around the corner but saw nothing until she looked at the street and there was something on the street, no, some*one*.

"Crews." It was like someone sucked the air from her lungs and before she knew it, she was sprinting across the street, hitting 911 on speed dial.

" _911---_ "

Dani didn't let the dispatcher finish her spiel. "This is Detective Reese I have an officer down, send a bus down here!"

She reeled off her address and as soon as she reached Crews's prone body removed her jacket, crumpling it into a ball.

There was so much blood.

"Crews," she breathed out then she fell on her knees and placed her jacket over his wound. His eyes were closed, she checked for a pulse and what she found was weak and thready. God-fucking-dammit, not Crews too.

"Don't do this to me." Dani said, begged, prayed.

She put more pressure to the wound hoping to staunch the blood flow.

"Crews," she tried again, trying to coax him, call him. It always took several tries and he always answered. Always. "C'mon, Crews, are you here?"

Under the street lights Crews looked so wan and pale, a long time ago, Dani asked him why he didn't take his settlement money and go to a beach somewhere.

" _Do I look like I tan?_ " He asked her. It made her heart twist just remembering that moment.

Fuck this week, fuck this day. Fuck the goddamned military. And fuck Sam too for joining up and dying in fuck knows where. And, fuck Crews too for his goddamned off books investigations.

Her hands were becoming slick with blood but Dani continued to press on the wound. "Don't die on me, Crews!"

Then suddenly, Crews let out a strangled gasp almost startling Dani his eyes flew open and met hers for a brief moment before his whole expression crumpled into pain.

"Crews," she whispered in an exhale of relief.

She was startled again when another person knelt beside her and she realized he was an EMT. Dani looked, around and was surprised to see an ambulance nearby. In fact the whole street was painted red and blue, and at both ends of the street there were Black and White police cars.

"Its okay, ma'am. I can take it from here."

Dani pulled away reluctantly and let the man do his work but she was never more than a feet away from Crews. Her hands were sticky from Crews's blood.

"What happened?"

Dani turned and wasn't at all surprised to see Stark standing next to her. "There was," she shook her head to snap herself out of a daze. "There was a car, I didn't see the plates, couldn't even identify it, it was long gone when I got to Crews."

In her peripheral, she saw her mother standing next to Aunt Bahar. "Stay with Crews for a moment, I got to talk to my mother."

They shared a look, and Dani was certain Stark would never leave Crews's side because they both knew it was a big possibility Crews's shooting had something to do with his off books investigations.

Even when she pushed personal things aside from her head, her cop brain wouldn't let up. Crews was gunned down right in front of her house, her mother's home. Her father's house. Jack Reese, who Dani knew beyond shadow of a doubt Crews had been investigating before Jack ran away.

"What's going on, Dani?" Her mother asked.

"Someone shot at Crews-- Charlie. It looks like he lost a lot of blood, I'm going to ride along with him to make sure he's alright."

Her mother gasped.

Dani wanted to reach out and clasp her mother's arm to comfort her but Dani was conscious of Crews's blood on her hands. So instead, Dani turned her attention to her aunt Bahar. "Can you please stay with _maman_. I have to go with my partner but not before I leave some uniforms around, just in case."

"Of course," Aunt Bahar answered firmly. "Now go do your job."

"I'm sorry for this, _maman_."

As Dani was about to turn and leave her mother grabbed Dani's hand before she could turn away. Dani flinched and tried to take back her bloody hand. " _Maman_ \--"

But her mother wouldn't let go, "Be careful."

"I will," Dani promised. "I promise I will."

Her mother looked on the verge of tears and it hit Dani this was the first time since the Marine's told her mother about Sam's death that she looked at Dani's face directly.

Dani didn't blame her, she understood why. It was difficult for Dani too, to look in the mirror and see her sister's face. Dani pulled away and walked towards the ambulance where the EMTs were loading in Crews.

Stark was right next to them looking anxious.

"I'll ride with Crews," Dani told him and Stark nodded, as if it weren't even a question.

"I'm going to follow you guys with my car."

"Post four Uniforms by my mom's house before you leave."

Stark nodded, already walking away to a Uniform standing idly by. "Alright, see you at the hospital."

Dani climbed the ambulance, and held on tight to Crews's hand. Dani will be damned if she'll lose Crews too.

* * *

Dani dropped bonelessly on the crappy hospital chair. She'd been pacing around the waiting area for two hours, waiting for news. Stark had made his excuses and went home even if he didn't want to because he could only stay so long when he had a family he had to go home to.

Dani felt beyond tired, like she'd been ran through the ringer. It was like one endless thing after the other. The moment she stepped off the ambulance and watched Crews wheeled away to the moment when an IAD detective accosted her for questioning, to the ill advised and boisterous scene Tidwell had made bursting into the hospital with his full New York cop attitude on show.

It was the last one that made Dani flinch, she could feel the curious looks the IAD detectives were shooting them fortunately, at that time Crews's father appeared together with his new red haired fiancee.

She introduced herself as Olivia and Dani introduced herself as Charlie's partner. Dani noted the way Crews's dad looked at her with a frown, she looked at him politely even when she was measuring him up against Jack Reese.

Dani knew Crews had a rocky relationship with his father, he'd talked around it, which for someone as chatty as Crews was telling enough in Dani's book.

Crews's father looked like a hard man, he had the same long face as his son, the same sharp gaze but there was a difference there, something in her gut that told Dani he didn't have the tenacity Crews had. He had given up on his son and that was enough for Dani to judge him harshly.

Dani engaged in polite small talk but after that conversation between them petered out as the wait grew longer, and now here Dani was waiting and feeling the wait gnaw at her as her leg bounced up and down restlessly. It probably didn't help that she was on her fifth cup of terrible coffee.

Suddenly the doors to the Operating Room opened and Dr. Reddy appeared Dani leapt from her seat and asked. "How's Crews?"

"He's going to be alright," Dr. Reddy told them as she put down her surgical mask and addressed them.

Dr. Reddy explained that the bullet almost nicked a major artery but after two hours, they were able to stabilize his condition and take out the bullet but Crews had lost a lot of blood.

"He is currently, under sedation," Dr. Reddy said. "And there's a high probability Mr. Crews will remain unconscious for the next few days."

"Can we see him?" Olivia asked for her fiancee, who looked stricken at Dr. Reddy's words.

"Only for a little while," Dr. Reddy said.

It was family first so Dani hung back, Olivia and Crews's father entered Crews's room and after their visit. Dani made her own vigil to her partner and found her anger had dissipated replaced by something else.

She left the room after and slump into her chair.

"You should go home."

Dani raised her head and saw Crews's father lean forward on his wheelchair.

"I'm okay," she told him.

"Your captain seems to think you should go home," Mr. Crews said.

Dani kept the grimace from her face, recalling Tidwell's loud voice. She also remembered how much she didn't appreciate the way Tidwell came crashing into the hallway, in his full New York City cop attitude.

In some ways Dani understood where Tidwell was coming from: Crews was one of his detectives and Tidwell had a proprietary outlook on the detectives under his stable but there was also the undercurrent, and a subtext to his words.

He was worried about her, he was worried because Dani had been there when Crews was shot and she could have been very well been shot with him.

Dani got that.

But the way he went about it going full bore into his New York attitude, reminded Dani about all the aspects of his personality she didn't like, the old Tidwell, the one who flaunted his ex-wives and propositioned her while inviting her out for drinks because he never bothered to read her file.

He must have seen that in her face because he suddenly went quiet and Dani when began to speak, she talked to him as Kevin and not as her captain and told him in a voice that didn't brook any argument that she was staying in the hospital.

Eventually he did leave because the IAD wanted to talk to him.

Maybe at any other time or if he took another approach she would have given in but Dani knew that was a lie because Dani knew that if she left the hospital she wouldn't really be going home.

Dani knew it, felt it in the way she kept reaching for that cup of coffee, that tickle at the back of her throat.

This was why Dani said, "I think I can stay here for a bit longer." Dani noticed the future Mrs. Crews nodding off one of the chairs. "Are you sure you don't want to go home?"

Dani saw Mr. Crews waver, he wasn't as adept at hiding things like his son was, she let her experience in getting perps to talk, to buckle under her questions, guide her. She leaned on him a little more. "Really, Mr. Crews, I'm okay. I can stay here, I'll call you if there's any development."

He hesitated, so Dani leaned on him some more, pitching her voice low and soothing. "I know Olivia's tired too, you can come back in the morning."

"She _is_ tired," Mr. Crews agreed.

"I can take it from here."

She shifted the responsibility from him back to her and within a minute she watched Crews's father wheel next to Olivia and then after enduring a few more minutes saying goodbyes, Dani was alone.

As alone as she can be in a hospital with a Uniform parked right in front of Crews's room. She waited a beat, nodded to the Uniform he nodded back and let her in. She entered his room, the nurses finished their rounds.

Crews's room was large, she blanched at the price tag that came with the suite but Dani found Crews's insurance information and it seemed like his insurance more than covered for the room.

But handling Crews's finances wasn't something his cop partner should do, if Ted had been around instead of the slam he'd have managed everything, and eventually there would be some paperwork that would be beyond Dani to process, worst came to worse Dani would have to contact Crews's old lawyer, Constance.

Crews had a couch in the suite and Dani sank into it gratefully but as tired as she was she was too wired with too much coffee.

A lot can happen in a week.

Her head went back to Tuesday when she learned Crews had shot his father, Dani was at her apartment rinsing a cup of coffee when she got the call and she had stopped everything because for a second Dani thought Tidwell meant Crews had shot _her_ father. Jack Reese.

She felt a flash of twin feelings of relief and grief but the moment passed and she realized Tidwell meant Crews's father and not hers. And because it all linked back in her mind it circled back to the girl in Crews's house: Rachel, friend of the family.

The girl who looked vaguely to Dani.

Now that she's had time to think, there was one name that stood out in Crews's past, with the same name. Rachel Seybolt, the only survivor of the Seybolt murder case.

The same brutal murder Charlie was accused of committing and that got him thrown into a decade of prison.

It clicked, in a sudden flash of insight why Rachel, family friend looked familiar.

"Dammit, Crews," she said to the room at large, at Crews looking pale and gaunt. "What the hell have you gotten yourself into?"

* * *

Sometime around 3Am the caffeine was beginning to wear off and Dani found herself nodding off in fits. Cedars-Sinai had a strict policy about visitors, which Dani stridently ignored flashing her badge and claiming she was there to protect her partner.

A few times her mother interrupted her sleep with messages inquiring about her partner, she answered each text dutifully.

A long time ago, Dani accepted that keeping in touch with their mother was something that would fall to her because even when they were younger Sam was never best at communicating.

Sam was the promising daughter, the one who would go far, she was supposed to be a Doctor. Respectable, solid, dependable except life really never turn out the way anyone planned and suddenly Sam washed out of her Medical Residency. Sam spent a few days haunting Dani's cramped apartment like a ghost.

Dani couldn't imagine how it would be to lose everything she ever worked for and even if Sam told her she hadn't felt anything at the sudden dismissal, Dani knew that was bullshit.

Then one night, when Dani was out she returned to an empty apartment and a voice message from Sam telling her she joined the Marines. Dani thought Sam was joking at first then her mother called, in a panic and hysterical because Sam called her too.

Sam really did join the Marines. Weeks went by without a word from Sam and Dani thought that was it and they'll never hear from Sam again.

Dani was partly right. Sometimes Sam surprised them with postcards or pictures of the desert and if it weren't for Sam signing her name, Dani would never realize that they were from Sam.

Because Sam wouldn't or couldn't Dani kept in touch with their mother and the only time Dani failed to keep her promise was when she'd fallen in deep in her undercover work.

In hindsight, knowing what Dani knew now, she wouldn't have been so eager to be pulled into the undercover detail but she was so spit shiny new, fresh out of the Academy and the opportunity to do real police work appealed to her.

Real police work, what a laugh. She compromised so much and fell so far, it took a hard lesson to knock sense into her and realized her superiors didn't care about anything else than nailing the Armenian Syndicate. She completed her assignment but her superiors didn't care enough to do something about her slide into addiction.

Her memory of those days were so hazy, she just kept sinking into drugs and alcohol and it was a wonder she wasn't sicker than she was, that she didn't get anything from her time as a junkie.

Dani would never ever say it out loud but drugs terrified her, alcohol she could pretend she can control but drugs?

Drugs were the demons that visit her at night, the moments when she lulled herself thinking she was free only for the need to strike her sharp and sudden leaving her shaking with need.

Her reaction to drugs terrified her because it was something she can't control it was a wonder Dani found a way to even reach out to Karen.

Karen Davis, who was her father's partner first and who encouraged Dani to become a cop. Karen, who tore her a new one when she found out, by accident, that Dani had been pulled into an undercover detail fresh out of the Academy.

Karen was the only one who cared, who dragged her into the hospital where Dani woke up three days after with an IV line with her mother crying beside her.

Dani thought she would always owe Karen her life for saving it but it turned out she couldn't pay the price Karen was asking for.

Karen put Dani close to Crews so Dani would burn Crews with IAD.

Karen Davis, as her new Lieutenant, wanted Dani to be a snitch.

It made Dani sick to her stomach because this was one of the reasons why she left undercover work. Dani was not a rat, even though she spent her early police career as a rat, she wasn't one.

She thought Karen understood her, instead she pushed and she pushed Dani until she threatened the only thing Dani had left-- her career.

It felt like heart break, that another person she trusted failed to live up to that trust. She could still hear it like an echo in her head, Karen's voice as she said: " _Let me tell you how its going to happen: they'll find a fold of coke in your locker, a bindle in your car..._ "

All because Karen wanted Crews out of her department.

In the end, when it came to it, Dani chose her partner.

Karen was busted down to sergeant. Dani felt guilty about it but Karen forced her hand.

Dani closed her eyes and forced her mind to stop going around in circles.

A minute, an hour, Dani couldn't tell but something jolted her awake. She bolted upright, her heart racing from whatever dream she escaped from then turned her head and realized someone else was in the room with her and Crews. She blinked twice when she saw the white of a doctor's coat at the foot of Crews's bed, reading his chart in the dark. It was just Crews's doctor.

"I wondered when you'd wake up," the doctor said without turning.

Dani froze.

"Looks like your partner had some internal bleeding but he'll pull through."

The doctor dropped the chart back and turned to look at Dani.

 _Son of a bitch_.

"You, on the other hand, look like crap."

Dani launched herself from the chair and caught the doctor by the lapels of her coat. The woman didn't flinch or back a step, instead she stood her ground even as Dani tried to force her into the light, but Dani didn't need the light, she already knew who the doctor was, Dani saw the face everyday when she looked into the mirror. "Sam."

That's when the doctor, _Sam_ backed a step into the light and Dani's own face stared back at her. "Good to see you again, sis."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Shaw finally makes an appearance...


	4. Threshold

Dani felt a haze of anger rush through her, the gall, the unmitigated gall at the blase greeting burned at Dani.

"Is this some sick joke?!" She hissed, Dani pulled at the fabric of Sam's coat and slammed Sam back to the wall, hard. "We thought you were dead! The Military went to _maman_ and told her you were _dead_!"

"I did die," Sam answered and that gave Dani pause, cooled the anger in her blood long enough for Sam to grab Dani's wrists and pry Dani's hands from her coat. "That wasn't a lie, I just didn't stay dead."

"Then why---"

"Everyone needed to believe I stayed dead," Sam said.

Dani stared at her sister, "Everyone, including your family? Including our mother? Who is at home crying her eyes out because she thinks you're dead?"

"I had to make everyone believe I was dead," Sam repeated, jutting her chin out. "Including _maman_ , I know how hard she took this."

"Really? Because it doesn't seem to register, just like it didn't seem to register that walking away from your family hurt her!" Then Dani bit down hard, because if she said anymore, she knew she was going to regret it.

Sam didn't look away. "Why'd you stop? Go on, say it. I know you're thinking it."

Dani narrowed her eyes and she was about to open her mouth when the door to Crews's room opened. The Uniform posted by the door poked his head in, "Doc, is anything--- oh, sorry, Detective, I didn't know you were awake."

Sam had turned away to look at Crews's IV.

The Uniform, Sorenson, must have sensed the tension and asked in a low tone, "Is everything alright, Detective?"

"Yeah, the doctor was just telling me about Detective Crews's condintion." Dani answered.

Sorenson hesitated before he nodded and pulled back to close the door.

There was a long silence punctuated by the beats of Crews's monitors, after a few seconds Sam stopped pretending she cared about Crews's vital and turned to Dani.

Dani eyed her sister, and asked coldly, "What the hell are you doing here, Sam?"

"I heard someone gunned down your partner," Sam answered.

"And?"

"I heard someone gunned down your partner," Sam repeated, looking at Dani intensely. "Right in front of our house."

Dani stared at Sam, jaw clenched then: "What did you do? What the hell are you involved in that you think my partner getting gunned down in front of our house has anything to do with you?"

Sam walked to the window, and peeked through the blinds before closing them. "What I'm going to tell you doesn't leave this room."

Dani resumed her place on the chair and Sam sat on the edge of the coffee table.

"Up until a few days ago I worked for a covert arm of the military, until they fired me."

"Fired you." Dani repeated, suspicious.

"Fired. Burned. Killed. You pick the word you want to use."

"Jesus. What did you do?"

"Nothing," Sam said in a defensive tone of voice that was so familiar it briefly brought Dani back to their childhood.

"Bosses don't kill their employees just to fire them."

"They do when its a clandestine agency and your partner's asking one too many questions."

"And that's why you're here, because you think they're targeting our family next?"

Sam shrugged, "I didn't know what to think, its why I came looking for you but you weren't in your apartment."

"The only reason why they'll target us is if they think you're still alive," Dani pointed out.

"Or if they think I was able to pass a message on to you."

This gave Dani pause, she leaned back, linked her hands together. "You think whoever shot Crews might have been gunning for me?"

Sam shrugged, "Maybe, I don't know. I'm just here to make sure it wasn't the case."

Dani stared at her sister long and hard, Sam gave nothing away. She never gave anything away, not when they were kids, not when they grew up.

"Well, I could have saved you the trip. It has nothing to do with you, my partner ran off books investigations. I'm pretty certain it had something to do with that." Dani rose from the chair. She was sick of staring at her own face. "So you can leave now and leave me to pretend you're dead."

Sam didn't say anything at first and Dani cold feel Sam looking at her, Dani wanted to turn around and shout at Sam, to follow the anger coiling in her and hurt Sam how, some way.

"I'll stick around for a few more days." She heard Sam say.

"You do that," Dani bit off then closed her eyes, knowing how she sounded. The edges of anger melting off into guilt and regret, she let out a breath and placed a hand on her forehead.

"Sam, I'm sorry---" She turned around but stopped short when she realized she was alone. "Dammit, Sam."

* * *

Life goes on.

You fall off the wagon, your friend gets shot, and you get word about your sister's death.

"It's been a tough couple of days," Dani said, ending her heavily edited summation of her week. "And since I fell off, its like I'm back at the beginning. I haven't touched a drink in three days but that's not because of willpower, it was because I was busy. And all I can think about when I'm not busy is gettin' another drink. It's tough."

There was a low murmur as she stepped off the podium, there were words of encouragement, some nodded to her, others avoided her eyes and Dani got that.

Earlier before going to the station, she went to her mother's house, but it was harder to stay and watch her mother cry knowing what she knew now.

Then she went to the station only to be kicked out of her own partner's case, against her wishes Tidwell gave her time off and it couldn't happen at a worst possible time but it turned out IAD requested she be taken off of Crews's case, Dani already knew the investigation was going to be fucked up.

A cruiser found a car dumped five miles away from her mother's home. Dani would bet her whole paycheck the car was stolen but not knowing was getting to Dani. If Crews were here he'd have something zen-ish to say about it, but he wasn't here and Dani really needed to know.

She took out her phone and made a call, the moment her call went through, she said, "Its Detective Reese, what's the word on the car?"

" _Good morning, Detective Reese,_ " Shirley, one of the lab rats in SID said. " _And just like you suspected there were no prints in the car, and the car was stolen a few days ago._ "

Dani let out a sigh, she was two for two on the wrong things to be right.

"Ballistics?"

" _Bullet was no match for--_ "

" _Who are you talking to?_ " Tidwell's voice came over the line.

" _Uh, no one, Captain._ "

" _Well, tell 'no one', Captain Tidwell expects her to be at her mother's house and not calling the station for news about her partner's shooting._ "

" _Uh--_ "

Dani dropped the call then for good measure powered down her phone. Dammit. Dani took her keys out of her pocket and clicked off the alarm.

"You're drinking again?"

"Shit," she hissed almost dropping her keys. Then there was Sam, standing right behind her. "Where did you come from? Were you listening in on my meeting?"

"You haven't started back with heroine, right?" Sam asked, ignoring Dani's question.

"No," Dani snapped, suddenly angry at Sam for commenting about her drug problem, like she had any right to. Sam dropped off the face of the Earth when Dani's addiction to drugs became a problem. "I haven't started up with the drugs again."

"Good," Sam pulled out her hair tie, let the hair for around her face as she took out a pair of large glasses. Then she went around the car and pulled the door open and sat at the passenger's side.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Wherever you're going. _Maman_ has two police cars and a cop detailed inside the house, she's protected while there's daylight."

Dani entered the car too. "So, what you're protecting me?"

"Maybe."

Dani started the car and maneuvered it out of the parking lot. Sam didn't say anything, looking all the world like she was on a drive out with a friend.

After the silence stretched on to ten minutes, Dani finally had enough of it, they were both stubborn and if she didn't talk they could spend the whole trip ignoring each other.

Sam's words from last night swirled around her head. _I did die. I just didn't stay dead._

"What happened to your partner?" Dani asked, and cringed a little because that wasn't what she wanted to open with.

Dani caught the movement of Sam's head, Sam watched Dani for a few seconds before she said, "They killed him."

"Jesus," Dani swore. She suspected as much but to have it confirmed. "Is that why you thought someone was coming after us?"

"Yes."

"How long has he been your partner?" Dani asked. She almost lost Crews, amidst the grief she felt for losing Sam, it snagged a complicated pattern of emotions in Dani that she can't really paint or look at too closely.

"Four years," Sam answered, voice even more stripped off emotion.

"Jesus," Dani repeated, softly and to herself. She and Crews were only partnered for two years, but four years? "I'm sorry."

Sam shrugged then turned her head to stare out the window and this time Dani let the silence hang. They drove through the streets of downtown LA until the scenery changed and they were up in the hills where all the McMansions lined the hills.

It was strange driving around with Sam again. It hit her how long its been since she last saw Sam, since they were last in a car together.

"We're still going to have that talk about being dead when you're actually not."

"Lookin' forward to it," Sam said drily.

Dani pulled into Crews's driveway.

"Is this your partner's house?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Dani got out of the car and waited for Sam to do the same.

"Big house."

"He got a settlement."

"I know," Sam said. "DNA evidence cleared him and LA gave him a bunch of money. Gotta love the system."

Dani frowned and almost did a double take. Sam was never interested in things that weren't related to her interests. "You know about Crews?"

"Karen made him your partner, I looked him up."

"You've been checking up on me?" She didn't mean for that to sound accusing but it did, as usual her sister ignored it.

"Only enough to know he's not going to get you killed." Sam adjusted her glasses. "Turns out I gotta reassess that."

Dani swung around and pointed at her, "No. You're not going to do that. You're going to stay far away from my life."

The big sunglasses obscured her sister's eyes and her face, as usual, gave nothing away. "Okay."

"Okay?" Dani asked, suspicious at how easy Sam agreed.

"Okay." Sam repeated.

"That's it? You're no longer going to check up on my partner?"

"You asked, so I'm not going to check up on your partner." She gestured to the door. "We going to stand around here all day or are we going in?"

Dani turned the door handle and wasn't at all surprised it wasn't locked. Dani took out her gun from her holster, from the corner of her eye she saw Sam already had a gun out too.

The cop in Dani asked, "You got a permit for that?"

"And a license to kill, you wanna see that too?" Sam gestured to Dani with her gun, "I don't really love being out in the open, so either you clear the door or I do."

Dani pushed the door open, leading with her gun. "Clear."

"Clear," Sam responded from the other end. They cleared the whole first floor inside the house before moving their attention to the second floor. Every room was empty, and devoid of furniture except for one room that looked lived in.

It was a girl's room, this must be where Rachel stayed.

"Your partner has a daughter?" Sam snatched a dress that was hanging on a chair.

"He has a niece." Rachel, family friend, who may or may not be the only surviving member of the Seybolt family. "There's nothing to see here, let's move on."

And the last room, at the very end, had to be Crews's.

Dani pushed open the door and stopped, Sam paused next to her. Dani saw Sam's eyes tick between her and the door.

"What is it now?"

"Gimme a moment." In their whole time as partners Dani made it a personal rule to never cross her lines with Crews, both for her protection and his. It started because Karen wanted dirt on her partner and Dani decided it was better for the both of them that she shouldn't get involve in Crews's personal life.

If she didn't know or see what Crews did, Karen or the IAD won't be able to use her against Crews. Dani would have plausible deniability.

It became a habit, and one she didn't want to cross, Crews seemed to understand and respect her decision. The morning Dani turned up in this house, drunk she was close to breaking that rule, because the question that's been plaguing Dani since she Jack stormed into her bullpen and confronted Crews started to gnaw at her.

And now here she was, at the threshold of Crews's life.

"Okay," Sam said, breaking the silence and moved to put her back to the wall. "So are we going to talk about how you're supposed to be on your day off and you're not even supposed to be here. Or how you're partner must have definitely been investigating Jack?"

Dani looked at Sam sharply, "Exactly how far did your background check go?"

"You're the detective, Dani. The question is, why haven't you been asking these questions." Sam leaned her head back. "What exactly are you afraid to find out? That Jack's a dirty cop? Not exactly a surprise there."

She gritted her teeth. Of course Sam knew about Jack skipping town. "You never thought of Jack as our father."

"Because he isn't."

"He helped _maman_ when she needed it." They've been down this road before, she's over it then, she's over it now.

Sam snorted, "Look how well that worked for all of us. He's a mean son of a bitch."

"I'm not here to talk about this," Dani hissed.

"Then walk inside your partner's room and prove it."

Dani stepped forward into the room, glaring at Sam all the while. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic."

"Glad to make you happy."

Sam stepped forward, and cleared the corners. Dani ended up in the hallway closet, a year ago IAD and Karen raided Crews's home, and in the chatter she heard that Crews's hallway closet was locked but there was nothing inside the walk in closet.

Sam walked up to her and said, "Except for the total lack of security, I like his house."

"There's barely any furniture," Dani pointed out.

"More furniture than the places I've been living in."

Sam was stalling, Dani realized and frowned. "Have you been to Crews's house before?"

"No."

Dani studied Sam. "What the hell do you know, Sam?"

"Nothin' more than what you've already figured out for yourself." Sam focused on the windows, "Do you want me to push you into his closet too?"

She threw an irritated glare at her sister, turned the doorknob and found it was locked.

"Well, at least your partner finally knew about security." Sam eyed the door, "Not that its much of one."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't do whatever it is your thinking."

Sam stared at her in disbelief, " _Now_ you remember you're a cop? You're so close to finding out what this whole thing is all about!"

"What if its not about his off books investigation, what if you're right and its something to do with your old bosses."

Sam clicked the safety of her gun back on and walked away in frustration, then she returned, annoyance marked her face. "Unbelievable. Fine, whatever. What's your play now, _Detective_?"

"What do you mean _maman_ was protected while it's daylight?"

"Exactly what it means," Sam said. "But I'm ruling out my old employers."

"Why is that?" Dani holstered her service weapon.

"Nearly 24 hours and your partner's still alive," Sam tucked her gun away. "If it were people from my old job coming to get him or you, he'd be dead."

"He would be dead? What about me?"

"I'm with you, you'd still be alive and they won't be."

Dani felt a chill go through her. "You talk like killin' is easy for you."

"I'm a soldier, Dani." As if that explained everything. It wasn't an answer, soldiers went to war and they killed but it was never easy. Dani knew because she's been forced to use deadly force before and even if it got easier, killing was never easy.

"You talk about working for a black ops part of the government that had you almost killed you--"

"They did kill me," Sam said then shook her head, "Don't go there, Dani."

But Dani continued on, "They had your partner killed and if they knew you were still alive, they'll go out of their way to hunt you down. Do you know what I think your former job was?"

"Probably something you shouldn't say out loud." Sam took something out of her pocket. And I'm not on the hot seat here, Dani. The question here, is you. Why the hell are we even here when you're just going to chicken out?"

Dani glowered at Sam in silence.

"I don't even care that your partner got shot, I care your partner got shot in front of our _house_. If something like that happened right in front of me, I'm not going to stop until I get some answers or revenge." Sam used the lock pick and worked it expertly, turning the lock pick with deft twists until she turned the knob and opened the door. "I'm going to go in the room, whether you come in or not, that's up to you."

Sam entered the room, looked at her over her shoulder then disappeared inside.

Dani stood at the center of Crews's room, clenching her jaw. If Crews were around he would say something about knowing the truth but he wasn't. He was in a hospital bed, unconscious. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath then crossed the threshold.

The air in the walk in closet was musty, there was no ventilation and it surprised Dani. Ever since Charlie left prison he was always big on wide open spaces. This walk in closet was confining, spacious for closets this size but still... It seemed a little too much like a prison cell.

Sam watched her enter then turned her head towards the end of the closet. Dani followed Sam's gaze until she saw it. It was hard to miss, the whole end of the closet was lined in pink paper with photos and black tape frames attached with numbers.

It was a murder wall, like something they had back in the station.

"Some of the faces look familiar," Sam commented.

Jim Dunn, Mickey Raybourn, the few men who were around Jack when they were both kids. And, of course, on the first frame, under number '1' was none other 'Jack Reese'.

Dani felt sick to her stomach, her father really did have something to do with sending Crews into prison.

But there were other photos on the wall, other people who weren't around when they were growing up.

"There's also other people here Crews and I know," Dani said. She moved forward and pointed at a picture of Roman, "Roman Nevikov, head of the local Russian Mafiya, and Agent Bodner, FBI."

"How are they connected?"

"Roman is a federal informant, Bodner is his handler."

There was a cynical turn to Sam's smile, "Of course he is."

"Crews and I arrested Roman on the same night he was gunned down. And Bodner---" It was all coming back to Dani now. She wouldn't have made the connection if she wasn't standing in Crews's conspiracy room and seeing the whole picture for the first time.

She remembered now, plain as day as Bodner stared down Crews and said: ' _You stay away from Roman Nevikof, wouldn't want anyone to make a mistake, having to get_ reborn.'

Crews shrugged it off, Dani should have really known better.

"And Bodner threatened Crews."

"It wouldn't be the first time a federal agent was in bed with the Russians." Sam pressed the tip of her finger over Bodner's calling card. "I guess we're making a house call."

Dani stared hard at Bodner's picture, "I guess we are."


End file.
